Some Thoughts on the Year Ahead

Photo courtesy of Kadampa Meditation Center

So…some serious thoughts have been circling in my head as I've been walking around the city these past few weeks. While often fragmented and random, I thought putting some down in writing would help focus my intentions as I continue to think about the year ahead. Here are some developing thoughts and meditations. I would love to hear what you think as I continue engaging with these issues on my journey.

Reflections…

…On Spirituality

Since starting the LVC year, I have engaged much more with my spirituality than I have in many years. While I did go to a church during my four years at Denison, I never felt actively involved with my own spiritual journey. I listened attentively to the sermon, sang in the church choir, met church members, but I never really questioned my own spirituality or felt my beliefs impacted.

Since one of the core practices of LVC is engaging with my own spirituality, discussing it with my housemates, learning from the church community, and being an active participant in my spiritual journey, it has been much more present in my life.

The other evening we had a house meeting. After food and grocery stipends were discussed, we took part in a reflection exercise about our roots and branches. Each of us drew our own “tree” with our roots embodying what kept us rooted (family, friends, reading, music, church, etc.) and our branches embodying new ideas and journeys that had begun since our move to Chicago (new friends, different community, working, NPO world, etc.) Sharing these trees was a very impactful learning experience- seeing our similarities and differences in how we have transitioned to our lives here in Chicago. Following the sharing, my housemate Karl asked if we could join hands and pray. In our living room we took each other's hands and shared a “round robin” prayer. After Karl began the prayer, he squeezed my hand inviting me to share my own thoughts and prayer, after which I squeezed Lauren’s hand, and each person was welcomed to share their own spiritual thoughts with the group.

During the prayer, both as I shared my own thoughts and listened to my friends’ prayers, I experienced an almost transcendent moment. The words were resonating with how far I have come since entering LVC, my goals I have for the journey in the year ahead, and how I hope to learn and challenge myself alongside my housemates. I have always been a very independently spiritual person, drawing from personal reflection and meditation for my own faith journey, rather than a collective experience.  However, this shared prayer spoke to me spiritually, engaging my personal reflections and also the group’s shared goals in recognizing how much we have already learned from each other, and have come to rely on each other.

This moment not only reaffirmed my reason for joining LVC, but also gave me even more cause to look forward to the many conversations we will share over the next year. I hope there are more of these special and profound moments where we can challenge each other and grow together. I am going to join the church choir at St. Luke’s of Logan Square, our community church, and plan on trying out our young women’s bible study group as well. Nothing like putting yourself out there to engage in a spiritual conversation and learn from new people and new perspectives.

…On My LVC Goals

Now that I have begun to really feel at home here (Walking to my job feels like a morning routine I’ve done for years. I know the lay-out of our local grocery store. Riding the CTA bus doesn’t scare me—as much as it did before! And I have joined the local YMCA.) I am beginning to reflect on why I initially chose LVC, and how I want to grow over the next year.

I initially chose LVC because of the concept of “intentional community” meaning that people do more than simply live together, but form a sustainable, meaningful and inclusive environment. This includes Community Nights once a week, Spirituality Nights once a month, and Snack n Yak sessions with our local supporters.

So far we have had successful community nights each week, a time we intentionally set aside to be together and take part in an activity. It can be as simple as a movie or game night, or can involve discussion, activities, etc. However, I feel that our most successful community night was one that wasn’t planned at all. (See the roots and branches discussion above.) These spontaneous discussions definitely touch me the most, and it is both comforting and inspiring to know that these conversations can happen off the cuff with my roommates.

In the past weeks we have had impromptu discussions about everything from the Syrian conflict (love reading my Trib every morning) to our anti-oppression workshop, our own experiences with oppression, and opinions on how to address it.

Wel, that is all the reflection time I have for now! Off to drink more tea (I am obsessed) and finish today's Trib Editorial. (You should read it if you can, it is on remembering 9/11.) Thank you for following my journey, as always, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

xx

SA